(Emirates 24/7) — A Saudi defence lawyer has asked court to summon a jinn (genie) claimed to have possessed a judge who has been arrested on corruption charges, the Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz reported on Saturday.

The lawyer, Salim bin Atteyya, told court that the jinn must be present in court to testify in the case of the corrupt judge in Madina, Islam’s second holiest shrine after Makkah, the newspaper said.

“The case of the corrupt judge in Madina has taken a new turn and witnessed new developments as the lawyer of an absent defendant has asked court to summon the jinn to testify,” the paper said.

“If what the accused judge said about the jinn, then this jinn could be bad and blasphemous…this jinn could have been sent by a bad sorcerer because witchcraft is bad and non-Islamic.”

Okaz quoted the lawyer as saying he had made that demand on the grounds any sentence must not be based on “jinn’s allegations”, presented by an exorcist.

“This Raqi ( Koran reciter and exorcist) has not presented any real evidence that the accused judge has been possessed by jinn,” the lawyer said.